Lawrence Kasdan

Want to appear as a Wookiee in “Star Wars: Episode VII”? Today, “Star Wars: Episode VII” director J.J. Abrams announced that a walk-on role for a member of the general public has been created and will be raffled off to benefit the charity UNICEF. Maybe you won’t be Chewbacca’s distant cousin, but you’ll be on camera, guaranteed (mostly… more on that in a moment). In a video shot on the film’s set in Abu Dhabi, Abrams explains how the guest turn will work: “You get to come to London, where we’re shooting the movie mostly at Pinewood Studios… You’ll get to meet the cast, go behind the scenes, and see the whole movie-making process. But more than that, we’ll put you in hair, makeup and wardrobe, and you’ll actually get to be in the movie.” Unless your part ends up on the cutting […]

It’s May the Fourth, and “Star Wars: Episode VII” screenwriters J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan have a message for fans. The duo posted a very brief fan greeting from London — a “video selfie” on Sunday for “Star Wars” day — check it out below. Perhaps the most interesting element of the clip? Abrams’ suggesting that casting announcements for “Episode VII” could “continue” as production ramps up. Last week, of course, Abrams finally put to rest the rumors about who would appear in “Episode VII” by announcing the official cast of the film, due to arrive in the multiplex Dec. 18, 2015. Adam Driver, best known for his role in HBO’s “Girls,” and Oscar Isaac, who won considerable acclaim for his turn in the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” will star in the new “Star Wars” movie alongside John Boyega, known for his […]

It’s official — “Star Wars: Episode VII” has a release date: J.J. Abrams’ new film will open December, 18, 2015. The news appeared in an announcement Thursday on StarWars.com. “We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for ‘Star Wars: Episode VII,’ where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” said Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, in the announcement. PHOTOS: ‘Star Wars’ at the box office Late last month, word came that director Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan were taking over screenwriting duties on the newest “Star Wars” film from Oscar winner Michael Arndt. Arndt (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Toy Story 3″) had been announced as the original screenwriter for “Episode VII” last November, shortly after word surfaced that […]

J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan are taking over screenwriting duties on the newest “Star Wars” film from Oscar winner Michael Arndt, according to a statement issued today. Abrams was tapped to direct “Star Wars: Episode VII” back in January; Kasdan, of course, has a long history with Lucasfilm, as a screenwriter on “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.” “I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement posted on StarWars.com. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a ‘Star Wars’ story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved […]

“Star Wars” fans have dubbed May 4 as “‘Star Wars’ Day” (as in “May the fourth be with you…”), and Hero Complex is celebrating with a look to the future of pop culture’s favorite space saga. Disney announced last month it will release a new “Star Wars” film every year beginning in 2015 with “Episode VII,” the first installment in a planned trilogy. In between those movies, Disney is releasing two standalone “Star Wars” films not part of the overall saga, penned by Simon Kinberg and “The Empire Strikes Back” scribe Lawrence Kasdan. “I’m trying to start fresh,” Kasdan told Hero Complex in February. “There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.” […]

The Force is strong with Alan Horn. At CinemaCon on Wednesday, the Walt Disney Studios chairman said the company plans to release three “Star Wars” films by the end of the decade — one in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In between those movies, “we expect to have pictures derived from that universe,” Horn said, indicating that spinoff movies should be expected in 2016 and 2018 as well. The news comes six months after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in a surprise deal for $4.05 billion. At the time of that deal in October, the company said it planned to release a seventh live-action “Star Wars” movie in 2015. It has since been announced that J.J. Abrams will direct that film, while Oscar winner Michael Arndt (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Toy Story 3″) has been tapped to write the screenplay. PHOTOS: J.J. Abrams career […]

Fans were relieved this week to learn that Lawrence Kasdan would be writing another “Star Wars” movie. After all, it was Kasdan who penned “The Empire Strikes Back,” the film that is almost universally regarded as the best in the series. It was partly for the fans, Kasdan said, that he decided to return to “Star Wars” — just not the fans you’d expect. “[My] kids are looking forward to it,” Kasdan said. “It’s a movie that my grandson, who’s not even 3, is already excited about. There are not many movies like that.” Indeed, and Kasdan wrote three of them. After 1980’s “Empire,” George Lucas recruited Kasdan to pen the “Return of the Jedi” — the final installment in the trilogy — as well as “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the film that began the “Indiana Jones” franchise. What […]